I've got a Phenom II X4 955 OC'd to 3.6Ghz with a TRUE Rev.c and Arctic PWM 120mm fan running at about 1300RPM. This build is just sitting on the bench, so no intake or exhaust fans but also no case causing heat build-up.

I've also got a Athlon II X4 630 @ stock 2.8Ghz with a Xigmatek HDT-D1284 top-down heatsink (and stock fan). This is in a case, with a single 120mm front intake and rear exhaust fan, each running at around 1000RPM (one Xilence I think and the other I'm not sure, maybe another Arctic).

The Athlon II X4 630 idles at around 18c whilst the Phenom II X4 955 idles at around 35c. Even allowing for the overclock, this seems a rather large difference. I do notice that I can't really feel the air blowing through the TRUE, although with my hand above the top of it I can feel the cold stream quite easily, so I'm not sure if that's because the air is being heated going through the heatsink and thus isn't noticable, being around body/room temperature, or if the TRUE is rather restrictive and doesn't allow the air to flow through it very well.

The only way it can be faulty is if it isn't conducting the heat away and in that case the heatsink wouldn't be the same temperature as the CPU. 35C would be difficult to tell but you would expect that if it is not conducting heat away properly explaining the 17C difference, at load it would be a very, very high temperature which would cause throttling or instability. More likely explained by differences in their idle states but ineffective airflow through the heatsink is also possible.

As you can see, the Athlon II X4 630 shows a CPU 0 temp of 16-22c and a CPU temp around 10c higher at 27c.

The Phenom II X4 955 shows a CPU 0 temp of 32-35.5c and a CPU temp of 23-27c. Under load at 3.6Ghz, it was hitting 50c+ (depending on the fan speed it was 55c+ as I was trying to get the fan as quiet as possible whilst keeping the temps acceptable). I've no reduced the OC to 3.5Ghz and with the fan at 1300RPM it keeps it under 50c, around 46c mostly under load. Whether it's normal for it to get to 55c+ at 3.6Ghz or not I'm not sure but I've read several places to keep it under 50c and others manage 3.8Ghz or higher, so I can only presume that either their heatsinks are more effective or the CPUs are and generate less heat.

Both PCs show motherboard temps about the same, in the mid 30's.

EDIT: Perhaps I can lower the Athlon temps even more as I notice it's running at 1.4v. As the Phenom works fine at 3.6Ghz @1.3v, I imagine the Athlon could manage 2.8Ghz at less voltage.

You really have 16°C or lower in your room? Because if you have 19-21°C room temp, your X2 would be nice to have for cooling beer.

And i also remember some boards reporting temps with an offset of about +18, or was it a whole sensor family?

My digital room thermometer says 22c but I don't trust that either (it might be right, it just always seems to be around 21-22c!)

The Motherboard and CPU temps look normal on both boards, so if the sensor is wrong it's just the CPU 0 one. I find it hard to believe it's 18c out though, as then it would be 35c idle and 40c max (I didn't stress test it or anything, this is just what it got to in normal use I guess) and it has faster, noiser and more (3 vs 1) fans on that system and isn't overclocked, so I'd expect it to be cooler.

18C CPU idle temp is unlikely. If your room temp is 21-22C, figure a rise of 5-7C for the CPU idling in an open case...assuming your CPU idles with low clocks. Try another program like Realtemp and be sure to follow the calibration routine in the documentation.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum